Tier 2 migrant worker quota – January 2018
If your company is seeking to hire a migrant worker via the January 2018 Tier 2 quota, then brace yourself for disappointment. Aside from those certificate requests qualifying for priority consideration (i.e. shortage occupations or PhD level roles), only those prospective migrant workers offered a salary over £55,000 per annum managed to secure their requested Tier 2 Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) last month.
Following this spike in last month’s demand for CoS, the overall number of sponsorship certificates available to employers this month has been set at 1409. Since many of December’s rejected requests are likely to be resubmitted for consideration in this month’s quota, demand is once again likely to outstrip supply. Should this be the case, a large number of requests could be declined for a second successive month leading to continuing disruption to the planned recruitment aims of many employers.
Once today’s deadline for submitting a CoS request in this month’s allocation passes, employers will have no option but to sit tight, keep their fingers crossed and await the Home Office determination in a week’s time. Good luck everyone!
Did you know?
A Certificate of Sponsorship is an electronic record, not a physical document. Employers must apply for restricted certificates through the sponsorship management system by the 5th of each month to be considered in that particular month’s allocation.
The Tier 2 (General) limit is 20,700 Certificates of Sponsorship in each year (beginning on 6 April) and divided into 12 monthly allocations. The provisional number of Certificates of Sponsorship set aside for allocation in February and March of this year is 1500 and 1000 respectively.